Saints gearing up for an early season stress test after dispiriting primetime loss to rival Falcons

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans Saints coach Kellen Moore sounded encouraged by the number of players who showed up at team headquarters during Tuesday's scheduled day off.

He's looking for — an urgently needs — his team to bounce back with a prideful response to their disheartening 45-24 loss to rival Atlanta on Monday night — a game that kicked off after hours of pregame celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the Superdome's reopening after Hurricane Katrina.

Moore described the scene at the team's training facility Tuesday as “a lot of motivated guys — a lot of guys that want to get things right."

“We certainly recognize the disappointment (Monday) night and I think our guys are looking forward to the path moving forward,” Moore said. “You saw a lot of our guys in our building trying to get better today, whether it be rehab treatment, in the weight room, in the film room.”

For the past half decade since Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees retired and Sean Payton took a year off from coaching before returning with Denver, the Saints have had little to feel good about beyond the franchise's accomplishments of an increasingly distant past.

The club was optimistic that this season, led by second-year coach Moore and second-year quarterback Tyler Shough, would boost fan optimism about the future.

Instead, fans left the Superdome early and in disgust, judging by the audible boos coming from the stands before they emptied out.

"We’re a 1-3 football team with good moments, but not enough consistent football to ultimately be where we want to be,” Moore said.

Receiver Devaughn Vele, who made an acrobatic catch along the back of the end zone for one of the Saints' few highlights against Atlanta, said he and fellow Saints players understand the character test they're facing now.

“We're going to have to dig deep, look ourselves in the mirror and understand the jobs that we have to do," Vele said. “A lot of reflection we've got to do this week.”

The connection between Shough and receiver Chris Olave in the passing game has been exceptional. After catching eight passes for 116 yards against Atlanta, Olave now has 35 catches for 491 and one TD through the season's first four games.

The Saints have not had much of a running game yet this season. They have 354 yards rushing as a team, or 88.5 yards per game, which ranks 27th in the NFL. Their 3.6 yards per carry ranks 28th.

“The first and second down run game has got to be a little bit better," Moore said. “We just haven’t been able to get those going.”

By contrast, the Saints' four opponents this season have totaled 591 yards rushing and nine touchdowns while averaging 5.1 yards per carry. The Falcons, who scored five of their six TDs in New Orleans on running plays, outgained the Saints 205 yards to 50 on the ground.

Veteran running back Alvin Kamara, who injured his knee during training camp and did not play in Week 1, began to look a bit more like his old self. He scored his first two touchdowns of the season on runs of 3 and 5 yards on Monday night.

Running back Kendre Miller had a chance to play a central role in the Saints' running game after Travis Etienne Jr. (hamstring) was placed on injured reserve last week. He carried six times for 9 yards and lost a fumble on the Saints 22-yard line. The Falcons parlayed that turnover into a touchdown for an early 14-0 five plays later.

The Saints were without two key defensive starters: End Carl Granderson (ankle) and linebacker Kaden Ellis (calf). Tight end Noah Fant (abdomen) was a game-night scratch. So was rookie defensive tackle Christen Miller, a second-round draft choice who was limited by a sore toe early last week but was taken off the injury report at the end of the week.

“He had a good week of practice," Moore said of Miller. "But, you know, with the time on task with those other guys, I felt like (it was) the right decision for us.”

6 — The total of points scored in the first quarter of their first four games combined this season. They have had to play from behind in all four.

“We’ve got to put some of those early drives together, got to score more points early on and get it going,” Moore said.

The Saints host Minnesota in the last of three straight home games. Avoiding three straight losses in front of their own increasingly disgruntled fans will require outplaying a Vikings squad that comes in unbeaten through four games and on the heels of a 15-10 victory over Miami.

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New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) runs against the Atlanta Falcons during the first half of an NFL football game in New Orleans, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore speaks at a news conference after an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons in New Orleans, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (6) passes as Atlanta Falcons defensive end Samson Ebukam (52) applies pressure during the first half of an NFL football game in New Orleans, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Devaughn Vele (14) catches a touchdown pass against the Atlanta Falcons during the second half of an NFL football game in New Orleans, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike is awake and speaking at a hospital, her lawyers said Tuesday, six days after the state's failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection left her unconscious and on a ventilator.

Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as executioners attempted to put her to death last Wednesday for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. The lethal injection drug didn’t kill her, but her lawyers said her arms were left burned and blistered.

Her survival raises further questions about her medical and legal future. Her attorneys said her prognosis remains unclear and that she faces a long recovery.

“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care," attorneys for Pike said in a statement. “Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented."

Her attorneys said they are grateful for the first responders and the medical team at the hospital “who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her.”

As recently as Sunday, Pike's attorneys said she had remained unconscious and on a ventilator.

Dr. Joel Zivot, a professor of anesthesiology and surgery in Atlanta who consulted as an expert for Pike’s legal team, said the development “bodes well for a good recovery.” But, he added, it could be weeks or months before anyone knows exactly what her recovery might look like, and whether her competency could be restored to a level that might enable the state to try again to execute her.

“She’s still in the ICU,” he said. “She has recovered to a certain degree that she’s able to be off a ventilator and able to speak, but in no way would I announce her free of further serious risk. There’s still a lot of bad things that can happen here, even when everyone is doing their job well.”

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction said she could provide no information other than that Pike remained hospitalized Tuesday.

Pike’s attorneys are set to go to court Wednesday as they seek to learn more about what happened in the failed lethal injection.

The attorneys are seeking a court order requiring the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence, including drug lot numbers, records and other information from the Sept. 30 attempted execution. Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles scheduled a Wednesday morning status conference in the case.

Pike’s attorneys said in their Tuesday statement that they continue to ask outgoing Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute Pike’s sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“Christa is a survivor and will take recovery one day at a time,” her attorneys said.

Lee halted further executions following Pike's hospitalization and ordered a “comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred.” U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the state’s Republican candidate to replace him, called on the state to explore other methods of execution to ensure it can continue carrying out capital punishment.

In addition to questions about competency — whether Pike can understand why she would be put to death — Pike has strong arguments that it would be cruel and unusual for the state to try again to execute her, said Deborah Denno, a Fordham Law professor who has studied execution methods for 36 years. It could also violate the prohibition on double jeopardy, trying or punishing someone twice for the same offense, Denno said.

In other recent cases, states have been allowed to try again after failing to establish a suitable intravenous line, she said, but Pike is the first person to survive after the lethal drug was actually administered.

“They carried out every aspect of the execution," Denno said. "She didn’t die, but every process they intended, they did it.”

Seattle University Law Professor Michael Russo, who handled capital cases as a public defender in Los Angeles, called the failed execution horrible but said he doubted whether the Supreme Court would stop the state from trying again on double-jeopardy grounds, should it decide to do so.

“There’s nobody else in the history of the death penalty in this country who has gone through what she’s been through,” Russo said. But, he added, “I think what this Supreme Court would say is, her sentence was to die — to be executed — not to suffer an attempt at execution.”

Associated Press reporter Gene Johnson contributed from Seattle.

This photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction shows Christa Pike on Jan. 12, 2023. (TDOC via AP)

Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)